Folding paper bags or sacks have been used for a long time as a convenient way to contain, carry or sell items. Such bags are inexpensive, easy to store flat, easy to erect for use and easily disposable or recyclable. While these advantages are valuable and while paper containers have found wide acceptance in many consumer oriented businesses, one of the problems is that such containers are, by their nature, of limited strength and stiffness. This is true particularly when the items or products to be carried in the bag form condensation or emit steam, being either hot or cold, or tend to leak moisture, oil or grease, as is the case with certain food items. In these instances, the paper forming the bag is weakened; it loses stiffness and strength and the items in the bag may even fall through the bag. This can cause inconvenience and, at the worst, in the case of hot liquids or foods or glass containers, possible injury.
Many containers exist in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 1,671,050 discloses a method of making reinforced paper bags. Somewhat similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,761,609 discloses a collapsible container wherein a sheet-like, solid, one-piece bottom is united with a container body.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 681,472, 1,299,503 and 1,532,316 disclose other collapsible containers which may be flattened for storage or transportation and later erected for containing items. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,354,369 and 2,354,370 disclose foldable carriers for bottles.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,199,760, 4,121,757 and 4,243,171 disclose cartons or carriers for packing and carrying articles wherein the containers include integral handles. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,243,171 discloses a carrier in the form of a box made by folding and gluing a single blank of cardboard. The disclosed carrier includes a gripping means and side gussets.
Although the commercially available cartons and the cartons disclosed in the prior art represent improvements, there are some problems which have remained unaddressed. One such problem relates to the economics of production and, specifically, to the need for a carton that minimizes the expenses of manufacturing and erection, yet can be shipped as a glued, flat carton to commercial users, such as fast food restaurants. While cartons such as the container structure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,761,609 may be flattened for shipping and storing, making such a container can be relatively expensive, because it requires the joining of a separate bottom to the carton body. Likewise, the collapsible box disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 715,026 requires the attachment of separate side sections.
Another disadvantage found in some folding containers disclosed in the prior art is that they do not provide for container or carton bottoms that are closed. They will therefore be unsuitable for holding popcorn, french fries, nuts or other food items of similar size. For example, the paper box disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 405,413 is collapsible, but after erection it has an opening at the sides near the bottom of the erected box. The same limitation is apparent in the carriers of U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,345,369 and 2,354,370 (although it would not be a disadvantage as long as these are used solely to hold bottles).
An important problem not adequately addressed by the prior art is that complex gluing and folding processes for forming collapsible cartons can make some designs very expensive to produce. For example, the manufacturing process for the structure shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,757 involves the application of adhesive to many flap surfaces oriented in diverse directions. To form the collapsible box disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 715,026, a blank including two sides and a bottom must be formed and brought together with and glued to two separate side sections or panels. If adhesive is misapplied in complex forming operations, the panels forming such cartons may fail to connect or align properly and the carton may be weak, malformed and unusable. Moreover, the more complex the folding and gluing operations required to form a carton, the more complex the manufacturing equipment required. Manufacturing complexity usually slows production rates as well.
In summary, despite the many prior art designs, there remains a need for a bag-like foldable container that can be manufactured with a simple, inexpensive, folding, erection and gluing sequence. Additionally, it is desirable to produce a bag-like folding carton of a material stronger than ordinary paper, yet supple and resilient enough to be easily, foldably collapsed and erected along fold score lines. Finally, it is desirable to design a collapsible container having the preceding characteristics that also has integral gussets or panels that make a closed container bottom when the carton is erected.
Simply put, current bag-like foldable containers do not achieve efficient manufacture or the desired degree of performance and strength. Accordingly, there is a need for a foldable, strong, cost efficient, disposable or recyclable paperboard package with an integral closed bottom for containing and carrying articles.